


temporary lull

by eraseallpicturesofron



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, Parenthood, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25596784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eraseallpicturesofron/pseuds/eraseallpicturesofron
Summary: "Your sleeve is damp.""What? Oh, yeah, it's- yeah, it's drool."(or: for the first time in a while, Magnus and Alec have a brief reprieve from the stresses of parenthood.)
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Max Lightwood-Bane, Magnus Bane & Max Lightwood-Bane, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	temporary lull

**Author's Note:**

> this was in my drafts for a while and i felt the need to post something, so!! enjoy :)

For the first time in the three weeks since they had adopted Max, the silence that wafted through the loft was not one that came after hours of screaming and crying and ceaseless diaper changes, bottle refills, and off-key lullabies. 

In a way, perhaps, it was sort of adorable that it took their awful singing at quarter of three in the morning that reminded Max that he was loved and protected enough to fall asleep. 

In another way, though, sleep was a luxury that they could barely afford and Magnus and Alec were both close to making a ritualistic sacrifice to some demon or deity to make sure their son would just fall asleep. 

That night, though, when Alec collapsed onto the mattress, it was not to bury his face into the cold silk of his pillowcase in the futile attempt of stifling his sniffling. He had already done that two days before, a night Max had only fallen asleep because he had grown tired of fighting it, and certainly not because he had taken note of the dark circles beneath his fathers’ eyes and taken pity on them. 

Max had fallen asleep with ease that night, taking to his bottle without a fuss, and letting Alec fall back onto the mattress without a sob lodged in his throat, or the crippling fear that he was doing absolutely everything wrong. 

Beside him lay Magnus, unmoving with his eyes closed, though Alec could see right through his pinched forehead and tense shoulders and knew that he was far from asleep. Reaching his hand across the mattress to interlock their fingers, Alec gave Magnus’s hand three tight squeezes that spoke for themselves. 

I. Love. You. 

Magnus squeezed back, three times in return, though his grip loosen

“Your sleeve is damp,” Magnus’s voice cut through their tranquil silence and Alec opened his eyes, squinting at the dark stain on the hem of his sleeve.

“What? Oh, yeah, it’s-” he unhooked his fingers from Magnus’s and pulled the hem to his face, before he settled it back down atop the mattress and concluded, “yeah, it’s drool.”

Had it been weeks earlier, he would have pulled the shirt off without a moment of hesitation, for drool-y sleeves met the criteria for a romantic mood killer. It wasn’t weeks earlier, though, and the drool was far better than formula stains and spit up. 

He kept his shirt on, just rolled up the sleeve, and Magnus failed to fight back a snort. 

“Yours, or Max’s?” he ribbed, and maybe Alec was just too tired (though, that was a given, based off the past few weeks with a baby with colic), but he was laughing too when he settled on his response, “Probably fifty-fifty.”

“Well, that’s disgusting.”

“Mhm,” Alec hummed, while he gave Magnus a brief up-down across the mattress. “Coming from the one with spit-up on his shirt.”

“Wha-” he scowled at the pale splatter that stained the center of his chest, dried, which meant that he had embarassingly worn the shirt all night (not that he had anywhere else to be, though). 

“Oh, shit.”

“Shoot, in front of the baby.”

“Oh, great apologies.”

With a brief spark of blue, the stain faded, and Magnus turned his attention away from the dirtied shirt and instead towards the gift curled up between him and Alec. 

Max lay on his back, fast asleep with his thumb jammed into his mouth and his other hand, that tiny blue hand with delicate blue fingers, held in a tight fist. His chest moved up and down with every breath, a gentle reminder to both Alec and Magnus that he was alive and safe.

“‘S’alright,” Alec whispered, lacing his fingers between Magnus’s once more, and using his other hand to brush a soft curl away from Max’s forehead. 

They’ll have to pick him up soon, move him into his bassinet, fully knowing that he’ll wake up and fuss, in desperate need of a diaper change or a fresh bottle. Soon isn’t that moment though, as Alec whispered again, “It’s alright,” for in that moment, it all was.

**Author's Note:**

> thank y'all for reading <3  
> if you liked it, comments/kudos/bookmarks are everything :)


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